1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a rider propelling vehicle, and more particularly to a rotation control brake system for a rider propelling vehicle such as bicycle or scooter, wherein the rotation control brake system comprises a brake actuator rotatably mounted to a steering handle of the rider propelling vehicle to control the speed thereof through the rotational movement of the brake actuator.
2. Description of Related Arts
Nowadays, rider propelling vehicles, such as bicycles, strollers, or scooters, are well known and have been considered as a form of transportation, recreation, and exercise. A conventional rider propelling vehicle comprises a supporting frame, having a steering handle, for supporting a rider, at least two wheels spacedly and rotatably mounted to the supporting frame, transmission unit linked to one of the wheels as a driving wheel for transmitting human power to a rotational power at the driving wheel, and a brake system for controlling a rotational speed of the driving wheel.
For example, when the rider rides a bicycle as the rider propelling vehicle, the rider applies the human power at a bicycle pedal to drive the driving wheel to rotate through a transmitting chain of the transmission unit. In addition, the brake system comprises a brake pad coupling with the driving wheel, a brake handle pivotally mounted at the steering handle, and a brake cable having one end coupling with the brake pad and another end coupling with the brake handle in such a manner that when the rider pivotally presses the brake handle towards the steering handle, the brake pad is driven to press against the driving wheel through the brake cable to reduce the speed of the bicycle. Likewise, the scooter has the similar structural design except the rider is riding the scooter in a standing position. However, such brake system has several drawbacks.
For safety purpose, the rider should normally grip the steering handle during riding. However, the rider must release his or her fingers to reach the brake handle in order to press against the brake handle during braking operation. Therefore, the rider may easily loss control of the rider propelling vehicle at the time the fingers of the rider leave the steering handle.
In addition, the rider, such as a young child, has a smaller hand that the fingers of the rider cannot substantially extend to reach the brake handle such that the rider has insufficient pressing power to grip the brake handle so that the brake handle of such brake system is not practical in use. Since the brake handle is transversely extended from the steering handle, the cloth of the rider may accidentally catch at the outer free end of the brake handle which may tangle with the hand of the rider and may cause an unwanted injury.
Furthermore, an improved rider propelling vehicle is designed to be folded up into a compact unit for easy storage and transportation. However, the pivotal connection of the brake handle occupies the space of the steering handle such that the brake handle will form as an obstruction to block the folding operation of the improved rider propelling vehicle.